A front-page story in our local newspaper yesterday focused on a couple in our community who felt led to help the people of Haiti. Beautiful hearts. Good intentions. The problem? In the end, it might only cause more chaos and frustration for those who are on the ground in Haiti.
This well-intentioned couple was filling up a trailer with bags of items people were donating. The plan is once the trailer is full, they’ll drive it down to Miami and ship it to Haiti somehow. It wasn’t clear if they are asking for specific goods that they know are desperately needed, and it wasn’t clear if they have strong connections with a reputable organization that is already on the ground in Haiti that will be responsible for receiving and distributing the bagged goods. If not, those items might end up in a warehouse, clogging up much needed space and never getting to the people in need.
When God nudges us to love others and do good, we should respond, but we should respond in a responsible manner. We should do our homework and ASK QUESTIONS FIRST. We need to ask HOW we can help and WHAT is needed before rushing in and doing something that might not really help or, worse yet, do more harm.
When people are in crisis, those who are around them want to help. They want to do something… anything! When the desire to help is so great that we don’t bother to take the time to find out what the people in crisis REALLY need, then we are actually acting selfishly. We are satisfying our own ego and meeting our own “feel good” quota. We are putting our needs before those who are truly in need.
Don’t assume the people of Haiti need blankets and sweaters. It has been in the 80 to 90 degree-range since the earthquake. Don’t assume the people of Haiti need canned goods (although they might). What if they don’t have can openers to pass out with the canned goods? Don’t assume you can just bag up a bunch of your old clothes and ship them down to Haiti and it will help. Someone is going to need to go through all those bags of clothes and separate them out based on size and gender. Someone is going to have to be in charge of distributing them fairly. To simply unload bags of clothes and have people rummage through them and decide what they need is chaos! People might end up hurting one another, or even killing one another, to get what they need.
Systems are in place and people are on the ground who know how to handle disaster situations. Work within those systems and with those people. That is the responsible way to help.
Locate reputable organizations/charities you can trust, and find out if they are helping the people of Haiti and how. You can find excellent groups doing excellent work by doing a little of your own investigative homework.
Forbes magazine evaluates the top charities in the country and rates them based on their efficiency (how much of your money goes to the actual work being done to help people). The Forbes rating is done every year, and a list of those most efficient charities is available. I recommend looking only at charities that have a 95% efficiency rating or better.
Go to the websites of charity watchdog groups that look at the details of a charity’s work and finances to determine if they are on the up and up. Charity Navigator is one of those watchdog groups.
Once you have found the charity you trust, ask what ways you can help. Chances are, the greatest help you can offer is through a financial donation. If you live in the same community as the charity, perhaps you can volunteer to help in the office by answering phones or packing goods being shipped. If you are in the medical profession and want to serve on a team, you will likely look for an organization that coordinates that kind of trip and has plans to go to Haiti. There again, just do a little research on the internet to find the group that seems to match your interests.
If you desire to help the people of Haiti, by all means do it. But be sure to do it responsibly. My personal recommendation for a charity that is already on the ground in Haiti providing millions of dollars worth of medicine and medical supplies is MAP International, but I confess to being a bit biased
Journey Of Grief ~ Journey Of Grace 